1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette storing therein a radiation conversion panel for detecting a radiation that has passed through a subject and converting the detected radiation into radiation image information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the medical field, there have widely been used radiation image capturing apparatus which apply a radiation to a subject and guide the radiation that has passed through the subject to a radiation conversion panel, which captures a radiation image from the radiation. Known forms of the radiation conversion panel include a conventional radiation film for recording a radiation image by way of exposure, and a stimulable phosphor panel for storing a radiation energy representing a radiation image in a phosphor and reproducing the radiation image as stimulated light by applying stimulating light to the phosphor.
The radiation film with the recorded radiation image is supplied to a developing device to develop the radiation, or the stimulable phosphor panel is supplied to a reading device to read the radiation image as a visible image.
In the operating room or the like, it is necessary to read and display a recorded radiation image immediately from a radiation conversion panel after the radiation image is captured for the purpose of quickly and appropriately treating the patient. As a radiation conversion panel which meets such a requirement, there has been developed a radiation detector having a solid-state detector for converting a radiation directly into an electric signal or converting a radiation into visible light with a scintillator and then converting the visible light into an electric signal to read a detected radiation image.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-172783, for example, a radiation conversion panel, a wireless communication mechanism, and a battery are housed in a cassette, and the radiation conversion panel is irradiated with X-rays radiated from a radiation source that is disposed in confronting relation to the image capturing surface of the radiation conversion panel.
The cassette is disposed between a bed and a patient lying on the bed, and placed in a position facing the affected region of the patient for capturing a radiation image of the affected region. Generally, since the cassette is in the form of a thin box and needs to be inserted between the patient and the bed, the cassette that is put in position is physically burdensome to the patient, and cannot easily be placed between the patient and the bed. Accordingly, there have been demands in the art for cassettes that can easily and efficiently be placed in position between the patient and the bed.